So last month, I mentioned that Appirio's executive team has an ever-evolving list of cloud ISVs that it is watching as the potential foundation for new services practices.

Lo and behold, the company has activated some of those partnerships, as it seeks to expand its function on helping organizations improve their human resources and finance functions. It's all part of the company's Workplace 2020 initiative, aimed at preparing companies to deal with a next generation of employees who expect and demand mobile, social and global communications applications as part of their day-to-day business technology tools.

Here's a summary of what's new:

Partnership with Concur, which provides cloud-hosted travel and expense management

Expanded relationship with CornerStone OnDemand, under which the integrator is becoming a "preferred" strategy and implementation consultant for the company's Salesforce-connected learning and training solution (which plugs directly into the CRM application)

A heightened focus on helping businesses reimagine their recruiiting and talent management processes with services such as HireVue, which uses video and mobile capabilities for "talent interaction"

New expertise related to roundCorner, a solution provider that offers services related to helping non-profit organizations handle fundraising, donor management and constituent relationships; this is part of Appirio's burgeoning practice for serving large, complex non-profits (ACT, JDRF, the Jewish National Fund, and the Sierra Club are already customers)

Heather Clancy is an award-winning business journalist specializing in transformative technology and innovation. Her articles have appeared in Entrepreneur, Fortune Small Business, The International Herald Tribune and The New York Times. In a past corporate life, Heather was editor of Computer Reseller News. She started her journalism lif...
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